Macbeth
by Pyjamapants
Summary: Everything goes wrong for Cody after he goes on a field trip to a production of Macbeth. The genre is not strictly speaking a parody, but it's sort of a half parody, so, you know...Warning VIOLENCE, DEATH
1. Chapter 1

"Wow, that was amazing!" Cody cried as the lights came back on and the actors left the stage. "And I loved Shakespeare's clever use of metaphor and irony. Although-…" Cody suddenly realised that Zack wasn't listening to him. "Zack?" Cody turned to his twin and saw that he was engaged in a passionate kiss with the person beside him. Cody grinned toothily when they broke the kiss and he saw that Max was its recipient.

"What?" Zack asked, blushing, as they walked up to the toilets.

"Oh, nothing, nothing…" Cody continued to smile as the doors swung open. "But if the play was boring enough for you to want to kiss _Max_, then-…"

"Hey! Two things!" Zack held up his fingers. "Firstly, it's a play – duh! Secondly," he hit Cody in the arm, "shut up." Cody grumbled to himself as he washed his hands absentmindedly. After a moment he looked back at his hands and realised that he'd washed them at least three times.

On the school bus, Cody sat in between Zack and Max, and said to his brother, "So d'you want to watch that Borat film tonight?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever – hey, you wanna swap seats?" Zack asked, keeping his eyes fixed on Max's face. Cody smiled at his twin as he stood up to swap. When they sat back down, Cody tried to spark up another conversation, but Max and Zack were already at it again.

That evening, Zack brought Max back to the Tipton and they promptly began to make out all over the couch. Cody was a little annoyed that Max had, in a way, "usurped" Zack from him, but he contented himself to read his weekly horoscope.

_This week, don't be afraid to fight for what you want – you might just get it!_

"I just wish that Max would leave Zack alone for a while," Cody thought to himself. "Oh well, nothing cheers me up like extra advanced calculus homework…" Cody silently went into his room to work.

A few hours later, Cody woke up, his homework sheets stuck to his face with drool. He heard laughter coming from the next room, so he poked his head around the door. "Zack, Max, what are you-…" he spotted what they were watching on the TV. _"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"_ Cody read the DVD box. "You said you wouldn't watch it without me," Cody said, hurt.

"Yeah, but…you were doing homework," Max said, scoffing chocolates from a box between her and Zack.

"And we know how much you love math!" Zack agreed

"_Yeah!_" Cody said sarcastically, "because I'd _much_ rather figure out complex mathematical theorems than watch a funny movie with my identical twin brother!" Cody breathed heavily for a few moments before continuing angrily. "Ok…I'm just going to go and eat my chocolates in my room now," Cody was still fuming, so he didn't notice Max's hand freeze halfway through bringing a _Mint Treasure_ to her mouth.

"Er," Max said, pausing to find the right words.

"It was the sparkly elves," Zack said, "I saw them creep in at the dead of night to steal your mints!" Cody's eyes drifted over Max's chocolate-covered fingers and mouth, and then over his twin's spotless face and clothes. Max smiled nervously.

"Right, sure!" Cody yelled suddenly, slamming the door as he stormed into his bedroom. As Cody lay there, listening bitterly to their laughs, he thought to himself, "I know what I want and I'll fight to get it."

**(A/N: Yes, I know its really short, but I'll try to update soon!)**


	2. Chapter 2

Cody ran down the school hallway, blood pounding in his ears. The air was filled with the sound of screaming and the walls seemed to melt. Max pelted out of a door to his left, and screamed as she saw him. Overcome with a passionate sense of loathing, Cody slammed his clenched fist into her face. He pummelled at her with his eyes shut; his punches becoming more frenzied has his hands became wet.

Cody's looked back at Max and saw an obscene sight: her skin bubbled and cracked like hot wax, and her features ran sickeningly down her face. Suddenly, Cody found himself turning and running away from the disgusting waxy thing, slipping on the wet floor. The walls began to bleed and matched the colour of his sticky hands.

Cody woke up; it had just been a dream. He staggered into the bathroom and was physically sick into the toilet. When Cody looked at his hands, he imagined that he could still see Max's blood dripping slowly down them, and he stifled a scream. In an instant they were clean. Cody hobbled back to bed, but couldn't get to sleep.

"Cody, about last night-…" Zack started, but Cody cut him off.

"It wasn't your fault, Zack." The bitterness and malcontent were clear in his voice.

"Yeah, but…" Zack pulled out a DVD box from his jumper. "_Dodgeball – Grab life by the ba-…_"

"Thanks Zack," Cody grinned. That she-devil hadn't stolen Zack from him at all – but he was still going to play a practical joke on her later. Cody picked up the phone and dialled a number. "Hey Bob, are you doing anything tonight?" Cody whispered fervently so that his twin couldn't hear him. "…_No!_ I just wanted to play a little practical joke on Max…"

Cody pressed the record button on the camera before hiding it in the bushes. "Here we go," he whispered to himself, as he slipped the mask onto his head. Now the illusion was complete: he looked like some sort of creature of the night. A faint mewing caught his attention. A black cat was rubbing itself up against Cody's legs. "Scram!" Cody half-yelled, half-whispered. "Get outta here!" he picked it up and moved it several feet away.

He only just managed to get back to his hiding place before he heard voices nearby. It was Bob and Max. "Why," Max was asking, "do you need me?"

"I need to ask you a question on dance technique," Bob said, mildly convincingly. Apparently Max wasn't buying it, though.

"At a hotel you're not staying at? On the roof? At 2 o'clock in the morning?" she asked incredulously. Right on cue, Cody burst from his hiding place and yelled, "BOO!" Max (according to the plan) was supposed to get scared and run away, leaving the incriminating evidence on camera. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly what happened.

Max jumped backwards in surprise, and, to Cody's horror, tripped over the black cat that had somehow managed to get behind her. Without a word, she fell backwards into the pool, hitting her head on the rim as she went. "Quick!" Cody yelled, "Get her out!" But the water was already becoming cloudy with blood.

Cody felt blood on his hands, and the world seemed to spin. Bob was shouting something at him, but he couldn't hear him. Bob's face seemed to melt, leaving behind a bleached white skull, mocking him. Cody blinked and everything came into sharp focus. There was no blood on his hands, and Bob's face was intact, but Max's corpse still bobbed on the sea of red.

Blood shone from where she'd hit her head.


	3. Chapter 3

Cody crept silently into the suite, his pulse quickening. The room seemed surreal; it shimmered as he walked. "Hey Cody," Zack said suddenly, making him jump. Cody hadn't seen him sitting there. "You look like you've just seen a ghost," Zack grinned. "You haven't seen Max have you?" he asked.

"N-no!" Cody stuttered, "I think she's ill."

"Oh, it's just that I phoned her and there was no answer," Zack eyed Cody suspiciously.

"Yeah, erm, she said she was going to…go to the roof for a swim…you know, calm her nerves." Cody's face twitched into a forced smile.

"Wait, she's here? I thought you said she was ill."

"I just meant…" a wave of nausea hit Cody as he spoke. "She was swimming and she said she felt ill, so she went home." Zack looked unconvinced. "I saw her leave, honest!" Cody squealed, uncomfortable under Zack's penetrating glare.

"I'll just speak to her tomorrow then…" Zack frowned as he went into their room. Cody rushed to the sink to wash his hands.

The next morning, Max was found floating upside down in the water by one of the hotel staff. Zack refused to go to school; he simply buried his head in his pillow, that couldn't quite muffle his sobs.

"Cody," Bob whispered, making him jump. They were sat eating in near silence. Most of the school had been affected by Max's death. "I've gotta go to the police," he said, his face as white as a sheet. "They said that the angle that Ma-… that her head hit the side at means she didn't just fall in."

"But she _did_," Cody whispered fervently. "It was an accident."

"Maybe so, but my conscience just can't take it," Bob stood without another word. He looked like he was about to be sick. He walked quickly out of the room, looking only at the floor. After a moment of hesitation, Cody followed.

Bob had almost reached the exit to the main building when Cody caught up to him. "Bob, wait," he said. Bob stopped and turned to his friend, his face glistening with tears.

"Cody, I just…just need someone to know." Cody's heart thudded in his chest. "You aren't going to tell anyone," Bob went on, oblivious to Cody's movements. Cody's fists clenched. "That's why I am going to tell."

Burning pain shot through Cody's head, as if a flaming sword had been plunged into it. Cody's fist suddenly connected to something; Bob's nose had broken. Cody's face contorted as his fist connected again…and again, and again.

Bob's body slumped to the floor, his blood slowly leaking across its polished surface. Cody stared once again at his hands as he waited for himself to wake up. But he didn't wake. This was real. Horrifyingly real. And what was worse was that he didn't care.


	4. Chapter 4

Cody stared down at what he'd done. "Oh, crap," he whispered. With Max, it had really been an accident, but now…this was worse. Much, much worse. Cody knelt beside Bob's body and checked his pulse; half wishing, half dreading that he should be alive. Bob's pulse was weak. If Cody called an ambulance now he might just make it… but if he did, then Bob would surely tell everyone what had happened.

A noise behind him made Cody jump. He made up his mind: he would flee. People would be coming this way soon, he reasoned, so he was giving Bob at least half a chance at survival. Blood spread slowly out from Bob's body as Cody walked away.

"Ms Martin, I'd like to have a word with Cody," Mr Moseby was saying. "There's something I think he needs to see." It was two days since Bob's death. Zack had eventually come out of his room, but he was looking sullen and depressed, and he had bags under his eyes.

"Cody," Carrie called, unenthusiastically. "Moseby's here to see you." Cody came out of his room and walked past Zack, who was sitting staring at static on the TV. Cody was also looking worse for wear. He was still wearing the same clothes (though the bloodstains had been frantically scrubbed out), he also had bags under his eyes, and he had what he would remember from biology class as "Anorexia Nervosa: chemical changes in the pituitary gland, causing loss of appetite and weight loss." Cody's hands were rubbed raw from his furious attempts to wash out non-existent blood.

"Cody," Moseby said very seriously. "Please, come with me to my office." Marion Moseby's office was looking as worn out and threadbare as its owner – The Tipton had lost a lot of money since Max's death, and subsequently Moseby received less pay. "As you may or may not know, the surveillance footage that covered your friend's death was taped over by _someone_ with a poultry obsession." Cody nodded both relieved and unrelieved. "However, I have since found the _backup_ copy. Let's take a look shall we?" Cody swallowed as a lump began to form in his throat.

Moseby flicked on the TV and sat down, motioning Cody to do likewise. _Crap, crap, CRAP_. Cody couldn't believe his own bad luck. Moseby fast-forwarded the tape to the bit at night. Cody saw himself hiding among the bushes, and that bloody cat that had gotten in the way. Bob and Max appeared at the edge of the screen. Cody almost couldn't bear to watch, but his eyes couldn't seem to be torn away; he was enraptured with a sense of morbid fascination at this pivotal moment in his history.

Moseby stopped the tape and looked straight at Cody with his woebegone eyes. "Do you know how serious this is, Cody?" Cody nodded. "You know, even though this was an accident, they'll still want to question you." Cody nodded again, tears dripping silently down his face. "Zack could go down for a very long time for this."

"Huh?" Cody looked up.

"You always said Zack would end up in prison," Moseby smiled weakly, "I guess you were right." Then it hit Cody. The muddled up hotel manager had mistaken him for his brother. He was free! Suddenly, Cody's joy turned to sorrow. This was not Zack's fault. Cody had felt jealous of Max spending so much time with his brother, and now Zack would pay the price.

"I wanted to let you know before I called the cops," Moseby continued, looking downcast. "I hope you know this isn't your fault Cody," he said "whatever twisted thing was going on in Zack's head, it's not your fault."

"That's where you're wrong," Cody whispered, tears running once more down his glistening cheeks. His fists clenched. Moseby looked puzzled for a moment before realisation dawned on his face.

"No, Cody? It wasn't…" Moseby stood uncertainly. Cody smiled mirthlessly as he stood, grabbing the closest thing to hand.

The lamp hung limply in Cody's hand. Its burnished brass stand gleamed like a surgeon's scalpel. A speck of blood dripped to the floor as Cody looked around. He would have to destroy the evidence, he reasoned. He swung the lamp at the television set, frying the device as the thing short-circuited. He calmly took out the tape and snapped it in half, before placing it in the midst of the burning machine. He wiped his fingerprints from the lamp with a sleeve and strolled swiftly out of the late Mr Moseby's office.

Cody returned to his suite and found Zack sat on the couch, his eyes red and puffy, his face wet with fresh tears. Cody sat down beside him and laid a consolidating hand on his shoulder. "Cody," Zack whispered. It was clear he was seething.

"Yeah, bro," Cody smiled, as he remembered "the good old days," where Zack was Zack, Cody was Cody, and Moseby was annoyed at their latest prank. He wished he could return to that time, just once…but it had progressed too far now. Those days were never coming back.

"Cody," Zack repeated. "You told me that you saw Max leave the hotel that night," he was staring at Cody as though he was seeing him for the first time. "And she was found dead in the swimming pool, the next morning." Cody froze and said nothing. "What happened, Cody," Zack whispered, pleading. "Just tell me you didn't have anything to do with it, just…tell the truth. Please?" Cody remained silent as he withdrew his hand. "Did you kill her?" Zack asked, staring straight into Cody's eyes.

"Zack, I…I…yes…"


	5. Chapter 5

Zack let out a roar like an injured animal and flung himself at his twin. His balled fist connected sharply with Cody's cheek. "You _bastard!_" Zack yelled, pummelling the younger boy repeatedly in the stomach. Tears ran down Zack's face, and were mirrored on his exact double. "How _could_ you? I hate you…I _hate_ you." At these words, Cody felt a great and terrible feeling well up inside of him.

Zack flew backwards and fell onto the floor, looking vaguely surprised. Cody howled with sorrow before leaping at Zack, screaming "no, no, NO!" His sobs drowned out anything Zack might have been trying to say.

Cody's punches eventually slowed and stopped. He realised that he had a bleeding nose. "It was for you," Cody choked out through partially muffled sobs. "It was always for you…" He looked down at his brother, who was lying motionless on the floor. He knelt beside him.

"Cody…" Zack croaked.

"Oh, God…are you all right Zack," Cody wailed.

"I just wanted to say…you're a sick bastard, Cody." Cody let loose a horrified bloodcurdling scream and punched his older brother repeatedly in the gut. He didn't notice when Zack lurched forward. He didn't care when the blood spewed from his twin's mouth. He didn't hear his beloved brother's pleas for forgiveness. He didn't heed his one and only sibling's last words, or his lapse of consciousness. He didn't care.

"Zack," Cody whispered. Zack did not stir. "Come on Zack," tears were once again forming at the corners of Cody's eyes. "_Don't leave me!"_ Cody's wretched sobs wracked his body, and Zack's body vibrated as his arms shook. "You're my brother Zack," Cody whispered, kissing his twin on the forehead. "I love you." Cody sat and wept as he waited for his mother to return. He wept for Max; he wept for Bob and Moseby; he wept for the deceitfulness of his own heart; and most of all he wept for the death of his brother: Zack Martin.


End file.
